The movements of crypto holders and traders is being watched by the Argentinian Tax Agency (AFIP) for tightening its control over transactions. Now, emails have been sent by the organization to Argentinian citizens and they have asked them to provide a series of data pertaining to the crypto operations that are running in their name. The citizens have to provide their public keys, along with a list of transactions they have made during a certain time period. The Argentinian tax watchdog is taking the battle of crypto tax evasion very seriously and has decided to take it directly to the users.
Previously, the agency had been getting its required information from exchanges, but now it has directed the responsibility towards certain users, who have to answer several questions regarding their history with crypto assets. As mentioned above, users have to provide details like the public keys of the wallets they manage and they also have to provide details about the digital asset movements. These include the crypto involved, the dates and the kind of operation as well. In addition, the citizens also have to provide information about the origin of funds that were used for conducting these transactions, along with the complete amount of crypto savings they have.
The required information should have details about transactions as far back as 2018, which means the numbers could be quite high. This new move of the AFIP has seen experts in the country respond differently. Their opinions appear to be divided, as there are some who believe that the institution is right in requiring users to provide information. A fintech tax expert, Juan Manuel Scarso, explained that the tax authority has the power to verify that people are complying with the regulations, laws, administrative instructions and resolutions and they can do this at any time, including the current fiscal periods.
However, there are also those who do not share the same opinion and believe that the Argentinian Tax Agency is overreaching by asking citizens without clearly specifying its reasons for demanding this data. Mariano Neira said that considering the requirements that have been implemented where crypto assets are concerned, the request for information appears to be very excessive. This could be because the organization already asks crypto exchanges to provide this data. The crypto exchanges are required by law to comply with these requirements.
But, there are some who have speculated that the tax authority is now demanding citizens to provide the data because some crypto exchanges may not be complying with the regulation. Therefore, the agency has been forced to seek other sources in order to get the information. Regardless, some people do believe that the amount of information the agency is demanding is excessive. No matter, citizens will be required to comply, as the agency appears to be adamant when it comes to ensuring no tax evasion is occurring. Argentina is not the only country implementing taxes on crypto, as others like India are also joining the bandwagon and taxing these digital assets.